


Catnip

by kewltie



Category: K-pop, Super Junior
Genre: Catboy Donghae, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Some sort of magic, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-11 03:34:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11705973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kewltie/pseuds/kewltie
Summary: This week has been a no good very bad week for Hyukjae: his best friend had woken up with a pair of cat's ears and a tail, his so-call friends think it's all hilarious, and Donghae just really wish he was a dog instead. It can't get any more worst.





	1. The Start of a No Good Very Bad Week

Hyukjae is seeing things or maybe he’s just going crazy. He isn’t surprised if either of them happened, ever since the release of their full-length album, Break Down, started his schedule been packed and the stress of promotion might explain why he is seeing his band mate slash best friend on the bed with a pair of cat ears on and a tail—at least he think it’s a tail—peeking out of the blanket covering Donghae as he sleeps.

God, he thinks as he palms his forehead, he hopes it’s stress and this is all some bizarre dream that his mind cocked up to drive him insane. Because, Donghae with cat ears and tail is possibly the most deadly weapon to his heart.

Maybe it’s fake and this is all a horrible, terrible, vile prank played on him. He rather have that then explain to his hyungs that: yea, sorry we let Donghae out of our sight for a second and he came back as some sort of cat boy-thing hybrid. But isn’t he cute though?

That would go well; he thinks hopelessly, Hyukjae is going to be in so much trouble if they hear about it. Youngwoon would try to kill him first, and then even worse than the attempted murder, is when Jeongsu would look at him disappointingly even as he says it’s not Hyukjae's fault. Heechul, though, he’ll deal the worst punishment, because Heechul thinks death is for the weak and scars are forever. He doesn’t know what kind of world he lives in when death is not the worst outcome for him, but being a member of Super Junior seriously ruined him for a normal life.

He sighs, somewhere between their trainee years and now he became responsible for Donghae and his stupid stunts, and this just topped all of them. He’s still holding out that this is all a prank but when he first entered the bedroom to wake Donghae up for their flight, the thing—okay the tail, swished back and forth like it was the real deal and those black ears look so natural it was eerie, it almost feel like he was seeing an actual cat sleeping on the bed if the actual cat wasn’t also Lee Donghae. It had freaked him out and he’s still feels like he’s going to have a panic attack any moment now, because this can’t be happening.

He doesn’t think any type of fake or mechanical tail can do that. Maybe—maybe, he should just check it out to make sure this isn’t a dream or that it isn’t one of those, “hahaha, we fooled you!” jokes that everyone seem to like to play on him.

Hyukjae walks further into the bedroom and sits precariously on the edge of the bed. Donghae is sleeping comfortably a foot away from him. He could even reach out and touch Donghae’s ears, and now that he got a closer examination of them, it looks even more like the real thing. Under normal circumstances, and since when does this will ever fall under normal, he would find a picture of Donghae like this terribly adorable but right now though, he’s too busy quietly freaking out in his head. His hands, though, they twitch at the urge to touch those tempting ears. He has to tell himself that Donghae is in a crisis right now (though, he still has hope that it’s not real) and here he is wanting to molest his band mate while he’s sleeping. Bad Hyukjae bad, he scowls at himself.

He turns away from the enticing ears and finds Donghae’s tail poking its head out of the blanket on the side; the tail is a fluffy thing that has a white tip at the end instead of an all black to match the rest of the ears and tail; he couldn't help wondering where the tail is stuck to. From what he knows it should be around—ugh, honestly what does he know, it isn’t as if there’s a guideline on when your best friend suddenly grow ears and a tail. He’s just going to have to check it out for himself.

He takes a deep breath and yanks the blanket that is covering Donghae away, and throws it to the side. Donghae moans at the lost of his comfort, but he still didn’t wake up, instead he coils himself into a ball with the tail curling around him as he continues to sleep.

From where he was sitting he couldn’t see where the tail was attached to, so Hyukjae stands up and gets on all four and crawls over Donghae. Hovering on top of Donghae’s still body, he could see the tail’s end was tucked in between the Donghae’s waistband and Hyukjae is not that daring to try to see where that will lead to.

He sets himself back to where he was and sighs. He has to wake Donghae up now if he wants to find the truth and he’s starting to believe that yea, Donghae really is a some sort of cat boy-person-thing.

“Donghae,” he says, shaking the body next to him. Donghae pats his hands away and persists to snuggle deeper into his pillow instead.

“Wake up!” He tries again, shaking Donghae harder this time.

“No--no, just a few more minutes,” Donghae whines into his pillow as his ears twitch at the noise. 

The ears _twitch_ , yea this is getting too surreal for Hyukjae.

“Your ‘few minutes’ always turn into 30 minutes or more. Come on, get up.” He slaps Donghae’s in the back. “We need to talk.”

Donghae curses at Hyukjae as he rolls onto his back, but Donghae eventually opens his eyes and winces as the light hits him. 

“Hyukjae,” Donghae says sleepily, rubbing his eyes, “what is it?”

“Sit up first,” he tells him and Donghae grumbles as he pushes himself up. Hyukjae could see Donghae’s tail flicking back and forth in the back, and one of his ears flattens itself to his disorderly hair. The whole combination of ears and tail and Donghae looking drowsily confuse is doing terrible things to his heart. Completely fucking adorable, he thinks helplessly.

He coughs and turns away from the sickenly sweet sight. “Do you know--” he begins, but he decides against it, “just touch your head.” It’s better to get straight to the point and nothing to the point more than a pair of ears that shouldn’t be there in the first place.

“What?” Donghae stares at him bewilderedly, but he does as he was told when Hyukjae gave him a pointed look.

“Alright, geez,” he says, lifting his hand to the top of his head and he only pats it only once before he encounters the left ear, that twitch at the touch. Donghae’s eyes went comically wide and he quickly lifts the other hand to the other ear. He touches, pinches, and stretches them several times before turning to Hyukjae with a terrified look.

“T-this can’t be real,” he says, the disbelief is clear in his voice.

“Behind you too,” Hyukjae says, pointing to his tail that is now standing still. Donghae turn sideways and nearly jump when the tail peaks over to the side.

“No way,” he says, grabbing hold of it and pulls at his own tail. He lets out a cry out in pain when he finds that it was soundly attached to him.

“Yea, I went to that phase too.”

Donghae turns back to Hyukjae and much to his horror, Donghae suddenly bursts into tears, letting out a pitiful wail Hyukjae had never heard before. Both of his ears lay flat on his head and even his tail seem to deflate as it falls back onto the bed; it’s miserable sight that pummels his heart and tells him to do anything and everything to make Donghae stop looking like that.

“Come here,” he says, patting his lap. Physical affection had always been best cure for Donghae’s tears and Hyukjae been using that comfort Donghae since their trainee years.

Donghae didn’t hesitate to comply, getting on all four and crawling onto Hyukjae’s lap, and instead of putting his back against Hyukjae like he had thought Donghae would do, he faces Hyukjae and places his head comfortably against Hyukjae’s chest. He could feel some of the tears staining his shirt as Donghae wraps himself around him, but he doesn’t mind.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” he says, rubbing Donghae’s back.

“Why couldn’t I turn into a dog instead,” Donghae complains against his chest. He sounds so petulant that Hyukjae had to tries hard to stifles a laugh. Donghae's emotions are wild and erratic at times, one minute he’s enjoying himself and the next he’s sulking in a corner. For many it can be tiresome, but Hyukjae long learned to accept as it as a part of him and Hyukjae doesn’t mind the mood swings, not when it can be amusing at time like this. At least he’s not crying anymore.

He spends several minutes stroking Donghae’s hair in comfort and tries desperately to avoid the ears, now that they’re inches away from his face and ince the ears are so close, he could see the minute details of the inner ears; there are tiny veins on the flap of skin and he could sees how they trail across the ear. There’s no longer any doubt that something had happen to Donghae and he swears he’ll solve this, because an unhappy Donghae tugs at him so much that Hyukjae wants to promise him the world if it get Donghae to smile again. After his close examination, he notices that there are also fuzzy white tufts on top of each ears like tiny balls of cotton glue to Donghae’s ears, it’s actually kind of cute. Horribly so.

They stay in silent after that, till eventually when Donghae’s weight had force him to lean backward quite a bit; his back hurts at maintaining the odd angle.

“Donghae, get up so I can move back against the wall,” he says, but Donghae refuses to budge and snuggles closer instead.

“Brat,” he says, fondly. He’s going to have to scoot both of them back toward the wall. They’re both fully grown adults, physically anyway, so it’s going to take some effort to drag both of them back. Luckily, he isn’t as weak as he used to be, thanks to all the time he spent in the gym.

As he begins to push his hands against the bed, he feels a soft warm furry thing grabs hold of his wrist and wrap itself around him. He realizes it is Donghae’s tail curling around his wrist, it feels strange yet he couldn’t help smiling at the sight of Donghae seemingly unaware of his newly acquired appendage acting by its own.

He lifts himself and Donghae slightly up, moving back every push. It only took several pushes before his back hits the firm wall. He sits there with Donghae in his lap, the tail warm on his wrist, and the ears are tiny distraction in the comforting silent.

Ever since he discovered Donghae’s dilemma, he has been fascinated by his ears. There is something about the way it makes him want to reach out to touch it and to fondle it in his hands. It’s an itch he desperately wants to scratch, but he’s not sure if he’s crossing the line there. He doesn’t want Donghae to feel more uncomfortable with the situation, but he’s already lifting his right hand above Donghae’s head and it lingers right on top of one of Donghae’s ears. He pauses just right there, this is as close as he’s going to get and--

“You can touch them,” says Donghae, pulling his head away from Hyukjae’s chest and looking at him straight in the eyes. He gives Hyukjae a beautiful smile, the one that Hyukjae been long used to but never once got tired of it. His tail swinging back and forth excitedly and his ears seem to perk up at the idea of Hyukjae’s touch.

Hyukjae gulps, he shouldn’t do this but his hand was already lowering itself toward the ear before him and when it halts right at the point where he can feel several strands of fur stretching out to meet him. Donghae pushes his head toward his hovering hand.

It is--soft and gentle to the touch. He lifts his left hand to the other ear and grabs hold of both ears, his fingers move to the inner flap of the ear, feeling the skin and the way the ears tremble a little at the touch. It feels smooth and pulsates with warm, and alive in his hand. His fingers trace the veins running across the skin flap till he reach the very top where the white tuft lies. He reaches toward the white tuft and gently holds it between his fingers; it feels like he’s touching a feather, so light and airy if he were to let go it would disappear right before him. He lets go of the white tuft and slowly descend toward the furry back of the ear. His fingers move back and forth as he feels the smooth sleek lines passes through his fingers, soft and delicate to beneath his fingers. He could do this all--the body in his lap suddenly vibrates with an eerily familiar sound.

Oh god, did Donghae just purred? His heart beats erratically at the sound, so he tries to pull away but Donghae leans further into the touch. “More,” he says, moaning in pleasure and Hyukjae could not resist the alluring pull. He gives in and proceeds to scratch Donghae’s ears.

The purring comes out again and inadvertently making his toes curl and does things to him that make him feels like a dirty old pervert. This Donghae, with his affectionate tail and lively ears, is more than just a temptation to him; he makes Hyukjae want to violate every rule he had set for himself to keep their friendship as it is. More than any flight of fancy, he been long aware that his feeling for Donghae is more than just platonic and deeper than he can even fathoms. Donghae loves to cuddles and being as close to Hyukjae as physically possible, but it doesn’t mean that Donghae feels the same way. He rather have Donghae as a friend than not have Donghae at all, so he will not let his lust ruin the very thing he been desperate to maintain.

He calms his racing heart down and once again let the silent sets between them, all the while his hands idly scratch Donghae’s ears. He passes the time thinking of how he is going to explain to the other members of SJM and if possible he wants to avoid his hyungs having knowledge of this event. It is an empty dream though, because for a bunch of guys they gossips like old ladies with nothing better to do. It’s going to be hard to contain this sit--

“Hyukjae,” Donghae says abruptly, breaking his train of thought.

“Hmm?” he asks, his mind refocuses on Donghae, who’s now looking at him with a panic in his eyes.

“What--what if I can’t turn back, does that mean I can’t perform on stage with everyone ever again?” Donghae voice drops to a hush but Hyukjae can hear the fear and sorrow laced in his words. He thinks of never being able to stand on the same stage with Donghae, never to have him close at hands, never to see him having fun with his fans or the other members, and never to be his side. He is grip by an anxiety so horrid; he feels his heart is going to fall right out of his chest. Forcibly, he wraps his arms around Donghae and holds on as tightly as he can because it won’t happen, he won’t let go of this person in his arms. Not for anyone or anything.

“We’ll fix this,” he promises and he’ll do everything in his power to fulfill it. Donghae nods, accepting his words for as an affirmation.

Despite his promise, he doesn’t know even where to begin. Things like this doesn’t just happen randomly. There must be a reason behind it or someone. He doesn’t think science could explain the sudden appearance of cat’s ears and tail, so the only thing left is... magic. Then, a sudden thought crosses his mind and he has to ask.

“Donghae,” he says. “I have to know, did you have something to do with this?”

He gets a pout from Donghae instead, who then proceeds to rest his head against chest as if that was an answer itself.

“Donghae,” he says again, and this time to emphasize his point he pushes Donghae slightly away. “Answer me.”

Donghae scowls and falls back to his original spot, but Hyukjae knows he won this battle. “It’s not my fault,” Donghae whines into his chest, the warmth breathe makes him tangle at the close proximity. “Why do you always assume it’s my fault?”

“Because it usually is,” he answers. People tends to misjudge Donghae as the sweet quiet one who sits there prettily and rarely gets in trouble, but once they gets to know him the find that Donghae is really a mischievous little brat with the attention span of a five years old on a sugar high. He constantly has to watch out for Donghae who’s, honestly, a trouble making little shit sometimes. He also knows that ever since shooting their mini-drama, Mystery 6, Donghae been more than fascinated with the supernatural and he spent enough time with Donghae to know he can’t ever leave anything alone.

“I’m not stupid enough to ruin my whole life by doing this to myself.” Donghae glares at him, looking cross. Both of his ears and tail stand up straight, his posture tense conveying just as much anger as Hyukjae could hear in his words.

“Okay, okay,” he says, trying to placate him. “Sorry, I didn’t think you did it either but I had to ask.” He honestly didn’t think Donghae would do it, but somehow all roads always seem to lead back to Donghae.  

Donghae still looks sulky though, so Hyukjae scratch the underbelly of his throat as an apology. He remembers how Heechul’s cat would literally turns into a puddle of goo when he was scratch this way. He doesn’t know how much of a cat’s characteristic Donghae had adopted but he hopes Donghae would at least shows a similar reaction and that he might be distracted enough to forgive him.

One of Donghae’s ears fold over in contentment as Hyukjae scratches him, the tail even starts to sway back and forth as if it was drunk on happiness. Just a scratch in that area completely turns Donghae’s mood over; he has to save that finding for future uses.

“Prrrrrr.” He suddenly hears from Donghae and this time it goes straight down to his groin. Shit, if his hyungs doesn’t kill him first then by the time this is over his lust might. It’s getting harder and harder to rein in his feelings and who would have thought what will break him won’t be stress or the possibility of getting punished by Heechul but a Donghae with cat’s ears and tail. They are going to have to solve this fast if he wants to maintain his sanity.


	2. Sense and Sensibility

Kyuhyun blinks once, twice, and rubs his eyes a couple of times before opening them to the scene on the bed that lay before him: Donghae is sitting between Hyukjae’s legs and Hyukjae’s arms are around his waist, and somehow that’s the least surprising thing about this whole thing. It’s the cat ears props on Donghae’s head and the tail that sticks out of Donghae’s waistband that’s throwing him off. 

“This is like a scene right out of a B-rated porn flick,” Kyuhyun says for the first time since he stormed into Donghae’s room to tell them to hurry the fuck up, because they’re not going to miss their flight again.

“What,” Hyukjae splutters, “no, we’re not--this isn’t what it look like!”

Donghae ignores both of them and continues to snuggle up to Hyukjae.

“Right,” Kyuhyun says skeptically. “Whatever, I’m not going to judge; just you know lock the door next time you guys decide to have some kinky sex.”

“It’s not what you think.” Hyukjae sighs and curls one of his arms around Donghae while the other hand gently stroke Donghae’s hair, because yea it’s not like that at all. Kyuhyun rolls his eyes; sometimes they’re so obvious with each other that it hurts just to look at both of their idiocy. Whatever, they finally hooked up and Kyuhyun is the first to know. Now, he can lord it over the other members. Fun. He smirks.

“Look,” Hyukjae says, wearily, “I’m going to show you something so--” he glances down at Donghae’s fake cat ears, “don’t freak out, okay?”

Kyuhyun folds his arms. “I highly doubt whatever you guys get up to will not freak me out anymore then seeing Donghae cosplaying as a catboy for your perversion.”

Hyukjae eyes him for a moment, and then with the hand he was using to stroke Donghae’s hair, he moves it toward one of Donghae’s fake cat ear and scratches it.

Donghae’s ear suddenly droops down and he makes a weird pleased sound that Kyuhyun unmistakably recognized as a purr. Hyukjae moves his other hand to scratch the other ear and both ears seem to twitch with pleasure as Hyukjae continues to scratch them. 

Okay, so the ears move, but what about it though, it’s not like they couldn’t have gotten an expansive highly advance technological cat ears that respond to touch and looks lifelike to fulfill their kinky desire, Kyuhyun thinks, and even to his own ears his reasoning sound completely ridiculous. The only acceptable conclusion is...

Kyuhyun closes his eyes and counts backward from ten. Ten, nine, eight--

“Kyuhyun, this isn’t a dream,” Hyukjae says, interrupting his concentration.

“Shut up, fake Hyukjae,” he says, and couldn’t help adding in, “beside this is more like a nightmare.” Somehow he landed in some bizarre world where Donghae is some sort of catboy, so now he just have to wake up from this horrible nightmare.

He closes his eyes and starts the count again. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five--

Kyuhyun feels something soft and cushiony hits his face. Kyuhyun opens his eyes and looks down to see a pillow right at his feet. He looks up and Donghae is sitting up on the bed now and Hyukjae has his arm out as if he was throwing something. Something likes a _pillow_. At _Kyuhyun_.

“You--”

“Shut up,” Hyukjae interrupts again. “Pay attention, this is real.” He grabs hold of Donghae’s tail and yanks it hard enough to pull Donghae a couple of inches back. 

“Ouch!” Donghae cries out and turns around to glare at Hyukjae, who manages to look sheepish at his own stunt but Donghae is clearly not appeased. He pulls his tail out of Hyukjae’s grip and the newly freed tail curls itself around one of Hyukjae’s wrist as Donghae hits his shoulder in retaliation.

Hyukjae laughs and puts his free hand out to block Donghae’s hits. “I’m sorry, sorry. Forgive me, I won’t do it again.”

Donghae pouts and Kyuhyun doesn’t pay much attention after that because all Kyuhyun could think is, the tail and how it just moved on its own.

“Okay,” Kyuhyun says to no one in particular and abruptly walks right back out of the room. He shuts the door behind him and he takes a few steps out into the hallway. He leans back on a nearby wall and takes a deep breath, because huh, Donghae is some sort of a cat person apparently and this is real life. As soon as he admits to that, he slides down the wall till he's sitting on the floor and quietly have his freak out.

Things like this shouldn’t ever happen. It’s out of the realm of possibility and into the realm of weird and freaky. His logic side finds it hard to accept that Donghae is now a catboy but yet he can’t deny the truth before his eyes.

Kyuhyun breathes, in and out. He has to do one more test just to make sure. He pinches his arm as hard as he possibly can till his skin blossoms a harsh red and the pain becomes unbearable. He lets go and rubs the sore spot on his arm. Definitely not a dream then.

He slaps his face several times to compose himself and stands up. He quietly opens the door to Donghae’s room and walks back in unnoticed, because the two occupants are in their own little world. “Idiots in love,” Kyuhyun mutters under his breath.

He sees Hyukjae leaning against the bed’s headboard watching Donghae toying with his tail. Every now and then Kyuhyun would see Donghae’s tail reaching out toward one of Hyukjae’s hands then makes a quick retreat back to Donghae’s side. Then, Donghae would laugh to hide his embarrassment by his own tail and Hyukjae would smile fondly at him. It’s disgustingly sweet and he’s going to get cavity from watching them.

He lets the scene play out before him for a couple of more seconds, until he's tired of it and if he sees anymore of this mushy scene he’s going to poke his eyes out.

“Yo,” Kyuhyun says, and finally he got their attention.

“Done freaking out?” Hyukjae asks, wearing a smirk that makes Kyuhyun wants to punch him in the face. . 

“Don’t tease him,” Donghae bats Hyukjae’s shoulder and turns back to Kyuhyun, looking anxious. “Are you alright, Kyuhyun?”

“I’m fine,” he says, and scratches his head “Can someone explain to me what’s going on?”

Hyukjae and Donghae look at each other and shrugs.

“I woke up like this,” Donghae says, reaching up to touch one of his new ears as if to remind himself that they’re still here. 

“So, you hadn’t been hiding the fact you are a catboy this whole time?”

Hyukjae groans. “You’re kidding me.”

Kyuhyun gives him a look. “It should have been impossible for people to even have cat ears and tail in the first place, but here is Donghae breaking that fact,” he glances at Donghae who cheerfully waves at him and the end of his tail seems quivers in delight at Kyuhyun’s attention, Kyuhyun abruptly turns back to stop any possible thought of cute crossing his mind. “He could have been borne a catboy for all I know.”

Hyukjae sighs. “He’s not a catboy, stop calling him that.”

“Then what is he?”

Hyukjae pauses for a moment, and then says, “A cat person... a cat man?”

They both switch their attention to Donghae, who tilts his head to the side. “What?” Donghae asks, not really paying attention to the conversation at hand instead chooses to play with his new tail.

“Right, catboy it is,” Hyukjae declares and Donghae doesn’t even seem to care.

“So, what are we going to do now? We have to leave for the airport in two hours and our management crew is going to come and bother get us soon.”

“I think we should tell the other members first before we make any kind of decisions.”

Kyuhyun raises an eyebrow. “Isn’t it better if less people know about this?” 

“I don’t like keeping secrets from them,” Donghae murmurs, breaking into their conversation. So Donghae is paying attention. Selective attention anyway. 

Nobody is surprise at that. Donghae doesn’t like secrets, whether it’s him that keeping them or others that keeps it from him. He wears his feelings on his face and believes that secrets are barrier to a good relationship. Donghae has always been open with himself and in turn he expects other people to do so too, which can get annoying at times, but Kyuhyun finds his straightforwardness endearing. Sometimes.

“Fine, but they went out to get breakfast a while ago since you two decided to have a snuggle fest instead,” Kyuhyun says with sly look.

Hyukjae scowls but he didn’t deny it so Kyuhyun wins. “I’m hungry too, is there anything in the kitchen?”

“Probably some noodles, I guess.”

“Alright, let’s find something to eat then.” Hyukjae rolls out of the bed and stands up but Donghae stays where he is.

“Donghae, let’s go,” Hyukjae calls out as he makes his way out of the door alongside Kyuhyun. 

“But,” Donghae whines, “I don’t wanna. We can eat in the room.”

“Donghae,” Hyukjae scolds. Kyuhyun finds this too amusing to intervene, so he keeps quiet.  

Donghae’s cat ears falls flat on his head. “I don’t know why but I’m tired though, maybe it’s because of what this," he gestures toward his ears, "and if I think if I move too much I'll only make it worst,” he complains, and even his tail seems dead on the bed.  Wow, to refuse Donghae right now must feel like kicking puppies. Or in this case kittens.

Hyukjae must have thought the same thing because he says, “Fine, I’ll bring you breakfast.” 

Lee Hyukjae is totally fucking whipped. Glad something never changes. Kyuhyun pats Hyukjae shoulder comfortingly, glad he doesn’t have to constantly deal with this Donghae and who newly acquired tail and ears is weaponized to full maximum power to take out everybody with a heart in a ten miles radius.

 

\---

  
“Ohmygod,” Ryeowook squeaks and practically threw himself at Donghae, “you are so cute.”

“Wow, these ears are so real,” Zhoumi gasps, holding one of Donghae’s cat ears between two of his fingers.

Sungmin blows on the other ear and watches as it twitches. “That’s amazing,” he says, eyes widen incredulously.

“Can you move them consciously?” Henry asks, studying the ears like he would do to an interesting puzzle.

“I love your ears, hyung,” Ryeowook coos, giggling every time one of the ears moves. “It’s perfect on you.”

Siwon caresses the ears on top of Donghae’s head and Donghae makes that weird purring sounds that Kyuhyun will never get use to. It makes Kyuhyun’s spine curls, because no human should sound like that and it reminds him too much of a real cat.

The other members came back ten minutes ago and it barely took them two minutes to explained what was going on before they all attacked Donghae with their “oohs” and “ahhs” and “so cute”. Sometimes, he can’t believe they are grown men.

Kyuhyun is getting a headache from this madness. Their lack of reaction pisses him off, because he thought they would have freak out at least. It’s not like he expect them to react the same way he did, but can they at least act like they’re actually sane, please? Nobody seems to understand that this isn’t normal.

They crowds around Donghae, who sits on the bed like a king, and lets them fondle and touch his new ears as they please, like this isn’t a problem they should solve quickly. Donghae happily basks in their attention, because Donghae’s default answer to it has always been, _yes please_.

Kyuhyun turns to Hyukjae for help, but Hyukjae just looks on in amusement and Kyuhyun is left by himself trying to make sense of all this. He’s not going to be like them going crazy over Donghae’s transformation. Even though his hands want to grab hold of the ears and scratches to see if he can make Donghae’s produce any other sound beside the purr.

No, he shakes his head. He won’t think about it!

While Kyuhyun wages war with himself, he hears Henry asks, “Hyung, can I touch your tail?”

Upon Donghae’s nod, Henry reaches out and grabs hold of the tail with reverence. He strokes it with care and gentle hands. “It’s so soft,” he says, holding the tail to his face and his expression so pleased that Kyuhyun wants to grab the tail to feel it for himself.

Damn. He tries to shake that thought out of his head. He’s not going to sunk to their level; there is nothing cute about Lee Donghae, he tells himself desperately. Not even with the way his ears twitch at the lightest touch and how his tail sometimes sway when he’s please about something.

“You just lost all my respect, Henry,” Kyuhyun tells him in hope of making Henry stop touching it. It’s distracting him.

Henry doesn’t even spare him a glance as he continues to play with Donghae’s tail. “Good thing I don’t need it then.”

Unable to come up with a retort for that, Kyuhyun makes a face and hates his life. Hyukjae laughs at him and he wants to drown them all. Some friends they are.

“Whatever,” Kyuhyun says, displeased with himself.

“Why are you so grumpy?” Ryeowook asks cluelessly, and unknowingly walking on a landmine. 

“He’s just embarrassed that he wants to touch Donghae’s ears, but his stupid pride keeps him from doing it so he’s jealous you guys get to do it in front of him,” Hyukjae happily tells them, because he’s a bastard.

The others members didn’t even bother to hide their laughter’s and he even got a pity look from Ryeowook of all people, like it’s sad that he’s not deranged enough to go crazy over Donghae’s new ears and tail. Kyuhyun doesn’t want to find Donghae cute, because that would be weird.

He wants to die though and possibly take Hyukjae with him.

Looking for a new distraction and for them to get off his case, Kyuhyun turns to Siwon, who has been quiet this whole time.

“Siwon-hyung, do you have anything to contribute to this conversation?”

Siwon glances at Donghae and takes a moment to answer. “Sorry, I was just thinking,”

“You aren’t thinking he’s some kind of demon, are you?” Ryeowook asks, looking horrified.

Kyuhyun could see Hyukjae stiffens from behind Donghae and his hands reaches around Donghae’s waits and pulls him closer.

Donghae shakes his head. “He doesn’t.”

“No,” Siwon eventually answers and turns to Donghae, “Sorry, if I made you think I didn’t approve of how you are now. You’re you and that’s all that matter.”

Donghae gives him a smile and Siwon fondly pats his head in return. It’s a sickenly sweet sight and tugs at Kyuhyun’s heartstring because he does have heart, thanks. Kyuhyun love his members because they all have a big heart and despite this strange circumstance they’re in, they can still rely on each other. He’s so proud to be part of Super Junior, but he’ll never tell them that though. He got his pride and his image after all.

“Kyu,” Donghae calls him suddenly.

“Yea?”

Donghae waves him to come closer and wearily he walks toward the bed and the other members, who are all standing around the bed except Hyukjae who sits behind Donghae and holds Donghae between his legs.

Donghae stares up at him and says in a quiet and hesitant voice, the one Kyuhyun and everybody else hates to hear from Donghae, “You haven’t look at me in the eyes since I’ve--” he stops and looks down at his hand,” changed. Do you think I’m a freak now?”

Kyuhyun freezes and the whole room fall deadly silent. He could feel six pair of eyes piercing through him and if he dare to look at their faces, he’s not stupid or suicidal okay, he knows they probably read something along the line, _you heartless bastard you hurt his feelings_. Though, Hyukjae’s face will read completely different, _choose your next words carefully or I’ll beat you senseless with your own limb_ , because Hyukjae loves his friends but it’s Donghae, stupid naive Donghae whom he loves. There is a difference between the two but they are both too stupid to realize that.

Kyuhyun hates himself right then and there, because his childish pride lead him to this misunderstanding.

“Don’t be stupid,” he scolds, trying to truthful with his feelings for once. “I’m still getting used to your new ears and tail that’s all.” Half truth anyway.

Donghae’s expression lighten up after that and even his body expression changes: his tail stands up with the end curling downward and his ears also straighten up but bents slightly forward, and he looks so disgustingly happy with Kyuhyun’s stupid comment. Kyuhyun is suddenly attacks by the undeniable cute. Fuck, if he starts cooing at Donghae like Ryeowook, he’s going to shoot himself to end his humiliation.

“What should we do now?” Zhoumi asks. Thank god for Zhoumi, before Kyuhyun does something drastic and embarrassing like buying Donghae all the things he like to see if he can get Donghae to be that please with Kyuhyun again. This must be what parent of pets feel like, Kyuhyun thinks helplessly.

“Sungmin-hyung,” Siwon says, “what do you think as the oldest here?”

They all turn to Sungmin, who startled at the sudden attention. “Uh, this never happen before so I’m not sure what to do,” he says, apologetically. 

“Maybe we should tell the manager-hyungs and see if they can help us,” Ryeowook suggests.

“It’s out of the question,” Hyukjae states, his face suddenly hard and he holds tightly on to Donghae. “If we tell them and they decide to remove Donghae’s from us... I don’t want to take that chance.” 

Henry nods in agreement and everybody else seems to acknowledge that it’s a possibility. They wouldn’t risk one of their own like that. Certainly not Donghae. 

“We’ll just keep it among ourselves then, but,” Sungmin says, “we’re going to have to tell our hyungs.”

“N-not Heechul-hyung.” All eyes are now on Hyukjae who is intently focus on brushing Donghae’s tail with his fingers.

“Hyukjae?” Donghae asks, and doesn’t seem to be aware of the way his tail arches up at Hyukjae’s touch.

Kyuhyun smirks. Finally, the table is turn on Hyukjae. Game on. “Oh, how come?” he asks innocently.

Hyukjae looks up and glares at Kyuhyun. “I don’t want to inconvenience him.” Lame, Kyuhyun thinks, he could have come up with a better excuse than that.

“What, you don’t want Heechul-hyung help so you can have Donghae stuck like that forever so he can fulfill all your kinky desires?”

Hyukjae chokes while the other snickers at him. “It’s not like that-I don’t think that way, Donghae! I swear!” He spins Donghae around, till they are face to face.

Donghae simply smiles at him. “I know you wouldn’t do that to me.”

Relief, Hyukjae turns all his attention back Kyuhyun and goes on the counterattack. “Do you want to bring the Wrath of Heechul down upon us?”

Silent.

“Heechul-hyung is busy, so we shouldn’t bother him,” Siwon says hesitantly, aware of the full magnitude of facing Heechul’s wrath.

“O-of course, we got enough people already so we don’t really need his help,” Henry says nervously.

“I agree, we can do solve this without Heechul-hyung,” Zhoumi adds in and the rest all nods their assent.

“Why?” asks the only person in the room who could call Heechul without any honorifics and get away with it. “Heechul-hyung would be a great help! He got brilliants idea and knows things most people have no clue about.”

Heechul loves things that are cute and for some inexplicable reason he finds Donghae terribly cute. As Heechul’s favorite, Donghae is guarded and adored like a much love child. It would be hilarious if it wasn’t also very terrifying to witness. Kyuhyun shudders at the thought of being the focus of that intent gaze and Heechul is the scariest when he’s pissed. On one hand he wants to get back at Hyukjae for embarrassing him and he knows nothing frighten Hyukjae more than suffering under the torment of Heechul, but it would mean bringing Heechul in and Heechul doesn’t discriminate in his anger.

“If we ended up needing more help, we’ll tell him but for now I think it’s fine with this many people knowing.” Kyuhyun rather saves his own hide, even if it means conceding to Hyukjae for once. He’ll get him back eventually. Revenge is a dish best served cold after all.

“Alright,” Donghae says, looking at them all confusingly, but luckily Donghae’s attention is that of five years old.

Kyuhyun distracts him by saying, “Our manager hyungs are coming with the stylists nonas, so we have to think of something to hide those,” he gestures to Donghae’s cat ears and tail, “so they don’t find out.”

“Oh!” Ryeowook starts, “I have an idea.” He runs off and out of the room.

Everybody looks at each other and shrugs. They didn’t have to wait long though, Ryeowook comes back with a familiar cap.

“That’s mine!” Donghae says, his ears perk up at his beloved hat.

“Sorry, I was borrowing it,” Ryeowook says, “but I have an idea. You can wear this to cover your ears.”

“Oh! I see.” Henry nods at the idea.

“What about his tail though?” Zhoumi asks.

They all think it over but eventually it’s Siwon who says, “He can just wear a loose shirt or jacket to cover it.”

“But the tail seems to move around a lot so how can we do make it look like it’s not there?” Ryeowook puzzles over the problem.

Siwon turns to Donghae and asks, “Can you get your tail to wrap itself around your waist?”

Donghae looks down at his tail, currently lying on the bed next to Hyukjae’s hand, and the end of the tail curves up to meet his gaze. It is weirdest thing Kyuhyun has ever seen to say the least, the tail and Donghae stares at each other for a second and there seem to be an exchange of communication before Donghae turns back to them and says, “Yep.”

“That will work,” Siwon says, and they all agree to the plan sets before them.

Sungmin claps his hand and makes for the door. Everybody soon follow him but before they scatter to get their stuffs, he tells them. “Alright, we better get ready to go catch our fight. Fortunately for us, we’re returning to Korea today, so I’ll contact our hyungs in bit and call a meeting in our dorm.”

“We just need to unglue Donghae from Hyukjae’s side first,” Kyuhyun says, looking back at the two who are still on the bed and eyeing the tail that is now once again curling around Hyukjae’s wrist.

 

\--- 

  
This morning started out strangely for Donghae. He woke up a new pair of ears and a tail that he doesn’t remember ever having. It didn’t so much as freak him out as it just surprises him. He and Heechul had experimented some magic spells from online forums and spell caster websites for fun, but it never once bared fruit.

Yet now, he got this weird tail that seems to have a mind of its own. The ears he can deal with, at least it doesn’t _embarrass_ him. He can always find it wrapping itself around Hyukjae’s wrist or touching a body part of Hyukjae and Hyukjae finds this completely amusing while Donghae debates cutting off his tail for good.

His new tail and ears feel like they extra limbs, except most of the times they don’t listen to him at all. It’s feels like they’re broadcasting all his feelings for the world to see. He wants to return back to himself as soon as possible before they do something that he can’t take back.

Donghae sighs and tries not to think about it, and just focus on the task at hand. He continues to walks down the hall to his room and he's back here again, because just right as he goes down the elevator with the other members, he realizes he forgot one of his bags in his room. He had told Ryeowook,”I’m going to catch up with you guys soon, just going to grab my bag real quick," and takes another elevetor to go up.

So, here he is in his room again. He sees the bag on the floor next to the closet and walks over to pick it up. He takes it to the bed and sets it down for a moment and says, “Okay come out for a second.”

His tail uncurls itself from his waist and faces him.

“Look, don’t do anything to embarrass me, okay? Just stay still or else they might discover you and we’ll get dissected or something,” he tells his tail and the end of the tail waves itself up and down in confirmation. He smiles, they agree on something finally.

Suddenly there’s a chuckle behind him, Donghae spins around to see Hyukjae standing there in amusement. “What?” he demands, his face heats up. Donghae is so embarrassed that he is caught by Hyukjae talking to his tail of all things, he wants to bury himself under the pillows and never wakes up again. 

Hyukjae grins. “Nothing, beside you being too cute for words.”

Donghae can’t stop blushing. It’s rare for Hyukjae to give him a compliment and he wants to bask in that moment just a little more, but this isn’t how he imagine he would received it though.

“Shut up,” he says, can’t look Hyukjae in the eyes without wanting to die. “Why are you still here?” He silently wills his tail to go back to its place, because he doesn't want it going after Hyukjae again and for once it actually complies.

“To tell you to hurry up and Sungmin-hyung forgot his jacket.”

“I’m done here, so I’m going to go then.” Donghae walks past him but unexpectedly Hyukjae pulls him back by the arm.

Hyukjae’s face is serious and concern is written all over his face. “Donghae, if you’re feeling sick or need something tell me, okay?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry!” Donghae rolls his eyes and puff out his chest little.

“Of course I’m going to worry, you’re my best friend,” Hyukjae says with frank certainty.

Donghae spares him a smile. “I know,” he says, as his heart tighten by a strange ugly feeling and he runs out of the room before he does something stupid like cry.

He isn’t this emotional, okay not usually this emotional, but he doesn’t know why Hyukjae’s words were like a punch in the gut. It’s an unfamiliar feeling and he doesn’t like it at all. He can only sets it aside for now and hopefully it’s go away.

Donghae heads down to the where his van is and as soon as he steps outside of their hotel, it seems like his world shifted on its axis. He stumbles a little at the bright sunlight hits his eyes despite not even looking anywhere at the sun, but he ignores the pain in his eyes and spots his van close by.

He gets on the van with Zhoumi, Ryeowook, one of the manager-hyungs, and several of the stylists. Donghae is seated by the window with Ryeowook beside him and Zhoumi in front of him. They were all the way in the back so they could quietly talk to themselves and in case anything happen to Donghae. He’s thankful for his friends and he won’t forget their kindness.

Donghae lays his head back when he gets the feeling of something is pounding on his head. He makes a face and twists himself in his seat. It doesn’t go away and he places his head against the glass window to calm him down a little. Nothing helps though, the headache only gets worst and it’s like trying to split his skull.

“Are you alright?” Zhoumi asks, and Donghae realizes he must have made his discomfort known for Zhoumi to be aware of it.

“I’m okay,” he says, trying to give him a smile but it must have a fallen short because Zhoumi’s expression didn’t let up.

“Just a headache,” he murmurs, lifting a hand to massage his forehead.

“I’ll get you the meds,” Ryeowook says, and about to get up when Donghae grabs his hand.

“No, it’s fine. I think I’m just going to sleep it off.” Donghae hates the him that is right now. Who knows how much damage his new “self” had caused them and if they are unable to perform because of Donghae, he’ll be so mad at himself. Donghae never likes to burden others and he knows this problem he brought them is solely his fault. He won’t let himself trouble his friends anymore.

“Are you sure?” Ryeowook asks doubtfully.

“Yea, don’t worry.” He smiles and this time puts as much feeling into it as he can, and it must have work because Ryeowook just nods and return to his reading.

Zhoumi glances at him one more time. “Tell us if you need anything.”

Donghae nods and closes his eyes. The headache is smothered by the darkness and though it’s still there, it isn’t as pronounced as it was. He can only hope it’ll be gone when he’ll open his eyes. He wills himself to sleep.

 

\---

 

_“I’ll go get him.”_

Donghae rubs his eyes and wakes up to a world not his own: everything is so loud, distinct odors classes with each other, and his eyes seem to be pierced by endless light.

He closes his eyes and calms his breathing. He was already barely skimming the surface of sleep just a while ago and now he feels so out of his skin and so overwhelm with senses that are a hundred times more sensitive than before.

Donghae opens his eyes slowly and carefully, and realizes he’s the only one in the van. He makes his way out of the van and as soon as he’s out, he’s hit with the onslaught of smell, noise, and bright lights of the outside world. He staggers back at the impact and braces himself against the car. If being in the car bad then this is a hundred times worse.

His ears hurt from the stabbing by thousands of invisible needles made by penetrating his eardrum with every vibrations. It’s not just his ears, his nose is clogged by obnoxious smells: of dry paint, of oil in the engine, of someone breakfast, and so many perfumes battling out for his attention. His eyes are strained by the lights so bright that he might as well be looking at the glare of the sun.

Donghae closes his eyes again. Breathes in and out. Again. Repeat itself. Now the noise isn’t as sharp as it was a moment ago and even the smell has calm down. He opens his eyes and the light dims down a little. His senses are still extremely heightened but not bad enough that he can’t function properly. He closes his eyes again, maybe this time it’ll be gone for good. 

“Hey, I was about to wake you up,” Ryeowook says appearing out of nowhere, and Donghae’s eyes flutter opens. “We decided to let you sleep for a while in there, since you said you weren’t feeling well. All of us are in the airport and--” he must have seen something on Donghae’s face because his voice grows stale. “Are you alright, hyung? You don’t look good at all.”

“I’m okay,” Donghae says, and steels himself to be better. “Let’s go meet them.” Ryeowook looks hesitant but he can’t do anything here anyway.

They head toward the Beijing Capital International Airport. Every steps Donghae takes is heavy and feels like it is bound by an iron ball. He’s so tired just from trying to walk the couple of steps into the airport, but he won’t fall here.

But as soon as he steps inside the sliding door of the airport, all his sensitivity rushes back and he is nearly blacken out by it.

He stops to compose himself once again and looks at his surrounding: the guards have the fans behind the railing, people are calling out his name, and Ryeowook is only a few steps ahead of him. He recovers himself for moment and it seems to be okay now. He can still sees though but he’s taken back by so much light, the noise constantly hums in his ears, and smell dulls only a little. They’re all still there but he can bare it. He just needs to catch up to Ryeowook and get to where the other are so he can sit down and maybe it’ll be fine again.

Donghae tries to take one step forward but that’s a fatal mistake. It’s like being hit by a freight train, everything one of his senses are magnify; he drops down to the floor and pulls his hat closer, trying to block out the world. His ears feel like it’s about to burst from the clamor of people and machinery all around him. It’s like living his whole life at minimum volume and someone had just turned the dial up all the way to max. Every words and even the echo of people's footsteps seem to intent to tear him down. Even the fans chants and yells, which has always been familiar and warm, now makes him want to throw up because he’s standing next to a rocket launching itself into space.

He has to closes his eyes when everything get so bright that he might as well be staring directly at the sun. He shuts it all down but his ears still sting and oh the smell, the smell of people and their sweats and their diluted scent washed over him. It’s so terrible, he wishes he could disappear from the world. 

“--re you--”

“--hae are--”

“he’s--”

“Get back--”

He could sense people crowding around him but it doesn’t help at all. Their smell is coming through (lily, peppermint, fried dough and more and more) and their gentle and quiet words are like gongs banging in his ears.

He can’t stand it anymore, he makes a break for it and runs blindingly away. He doesn’t care as long as he far away from here as possible. Donghae’s legs feels like feather, like he’s walking on air and he’s flying past everyone. Nobody could catch him.

Finally, he stops and he finds himself standing in front of small corner near the airport’s  employee door, where few people rarely cross it path. He crouches down and curls into himself, with only the warm of his tail still around his waist to comfort him; he hides from the world and wishes everything to disappear.

He doesn’t know how long he stay there, could be minutes or hours. He just wants peace but he could get partial silent, light sting in his eyes, and lull lumbering noise in the background. 

“--hae where are you?!”

Donghae raises his head as soon as he hears it, an achingly familiar voice and he knows without a doubt it’s Hyukjae’s. It is as if he was encase in darkness since he’d woken up from his nap and when he heard Hyukjae’s voice calling out to him, it is like light has finally broken through.

He pushes himself up from the floor and forces himself to face the chaos of the world. All thoughts of fear and anxiety vanish as he chases after Hyukjae’s voice. Hyukjae makes him want to be brave, to be strong, and to reach out and touch Hyukjae’s hand again. 

Donghae finds him eventually, just by his voice and scent alone, he’s in the same area as Hyukjae. Donghae peeks a tiny bit through his eyes just to see where Hyukjae is and shuts it down quickly when it gets too bad. Hyukjae is standing a few feet away from him, and he is desperately searching for Donghae.

“Hyukjae,” he calls out from his spot, but his voice is barely a whisper. Oh, but Hyukjae hears him though, he’ll always hear Donghae just as Donghae will always find him.

He spins around toward Donghae’s direction. “Donghae,” Hyukjae says, relief sewn into every letters of his name.

“Hyukjae,” Donghae says again, but it sounds like a prayer. Donghae runs toward Hyukjae and collapses into his arms.

“It’s alright,” Hyukjae whispers, and it hurts to hear his voice again but this kind of hurt is the one he’ll embrace with open arms. “I got you.”

Donghae breathes in Hyukjae’s scent, and it’s the smell of strawberries in the summer. It’s like a sweet and familiar old memory, his only sanctuary from the terror of the outside world. He wants to live in Hyukjae’s arms forever.

His tail, that had been so quiet since he step into this living hell in the airport, begins to stir again at Hyukjae’s close proximity. He has to tell it, no, not yet and it surprisingly listens.

“Donghae, what happen?” Hyukjae’s arms wrap around him tightly, like it could hold Donghae’s world up if he knew Hyukjae was willing to take it.

“I don’t know,” he mumbles. “I didn’t feel well at first but now everything hurts. The noise, smell, and light are like daggers on my senses.”

“Donghae, let me look at you.”

Donghae complies and tilts his face up from Hyukjae’s chest. He hears a slight hitched of breath and he wonders what that is all about.

“Donghae let me see your eyes.”  

“I can’t,” he says quiet and unsure, and absolutely terrified. “It’s too bright, I won’t be able to see.”

He could hear Hyukjae rummaging through his pocket and then he feels something hard slip on his ears and placed on his nose. He realizes belatedly it is a pair glasses.

“Open your eyes, Hae,” Hyukjae says,

“But I--”

“Trust me, it’ll be alright,” Hyukjae assures him and somehow he isn’t sure why but the fear starts to dissipate. 

Donghae opens them slowly and the lights that would usually drown his eyes are darken by the lens. It’s Hyukjae’s sunglasses and he could finally sees again.

He barely had a few seconds to feel relief when Hyukjae grabs hold of his hand and says, “Let’s go.”

Hyukjae drags him to go to a small barely used restroom. He lets go of Donghae’s hand to check to see if all four stalls are empty. Donghae finds himself startlingly missing Hyukjae’s hand over his.

“Good, we’re alone,” he says, giving Donghae a smile. “I had checked this restroom first to make sure it was okay to bring you here. Ryeowook told me what happen, so we thought it must be because of what had happen to you this morning that made you ran. We are all worried about you so we scattered to look for you.”

Donghae gulps and looks down at his hands. His friends are so terribly kind, he certainly doesn’t deserve them.

“Hey, hey,” Hyukjae grips his chin up to face him, “no stupid thoughts. It’s not your fault, so stop thinking about.”

“A-alright,” he mumbles, he’s still upset he made his friends worried but he’s not going to beat himself over about it anymore.

“We need to talk about something though,” Hyukjae scratches the back of his head nervously and Donghae knows he won’t this conversation at all. “Take off the sunglasses, you need to look at yourself properly in the mirror.”

Donghae trembles at the thought of Hyukjae could mean by those orders. Will he like what he sees?

“Don’t be scare,” Hyukjae says, “I just want to show you some things but it doesn’t matter, you are still you.”

Donghae takes the sunglasses off and faces the mirror. He stares at himself and it is like looking at a stranger. His eyes are now a golden slit and there are fangs protruding from his upper and lower lips. He touches his lips, how come he didn’t realize it? Did he lost himself so much that he didn’t notice he grew fangs?

“What’s happening to me,” he asks, staring into his reflection in horror. He has become something other than human. He’s no longer Lee Donghae. “I’m a monster.”

Hyukjae grabs hold of one Donghae’s wrists and spins him around to face him. “Hae, listen to me! You could be a mutant, deformed, or an alien and we wouldn’t care. I wouldn’t care. I--we still love you.”

“But what if I’m stuck like this, I--”

“We’ll figure it out,” Hyukjae swears and forcibly drags him into a hug. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

All of a sudden, the noise dies down and Hyukjae doesn’t smell of strawberry in the summer, nor does the light blinds him anymore and for the first time, since he woke up today, he’s okay now. Donghae blinks away the onset of the tears threatening to come through but it’s too late.

“Don’t cry.”

“I’m not,” Donghae says stubbornly, despite the wetness of his cheek. “These are just sweats.”

“From your eyes?” Hyukjae lips twists in amusement.  

“My eyes had a worked out,” Donghae pouts but he adds in, “It’s happy tears.”

Hyukjae laughs and kisses his forehead. “You’re so silly.”

“You love me anyway,” he mutters.

“I do, I do,” Hyukjae says, soft and sweet like a promise. Donghae feels his heart takes a tumble. He doesn’t know how to respond to that. Does he say, I love you too? Would it be alright? Or will it be too strange?

“Donghae, your eyes!” Hyukjae exclaims excitedly, distracting Donghae from his thought, pointing to the mirror.  

He turns to the mirror again and stares back at ordinary brown eyes. He’s himself again. No more fangs and just plain old Lee Donghae. He has never been more glad to see his face reflected back at him again.

“I’m back,” he murmurs, can’t believe it’s really him that’s he’s looking at.

“You always have been here,” Hyukjae tells him. “What about your senses? Is it better now?”

Donghae turns to Hyukjae and says happily, “Yea, it doesn’t hurt anymore,”

Hyukjae grins. “That’s good, so it’s temporary. What about your ears and tail?”

Donghae’s tail immediately unwraps itself as soon as it was brought up by Hyukjae. It stretches out to meet Hyukjae’s hand.

Hyukjae laughs, bright and so open. “I’m sorry to say but I’m kinda glad to see your tail again.”

Donghae groans, not at all happy about Hyukjae favoring his tail. It will not end well. He wraps the tail back on his waist himself, just in case the tail does something humiliating.

“Everybody is waiting for us, let’s go.” Hyukjae grabs hold of his hand again once he’s done and they walk out of the restroom together.

Donghae glances down at their joint hand, as Hyukjae lead him to their group, and let a smile slip through despite the fear about his unknown fate that dog his every step, right now he just never wants to let go of this hand.

 

\---

 

Once they are reunited with their friends and the management, Hyukjae makes an excuse of Donghae having a migraine and that he didn’t get enough rest last night because he was excited to go home. The other members know something is up, but they can’t ask here and the management could only accept their excuse because there’s nothing else they could do.  
  
They luckily only had been gone for 30 minutes and have five minutes to spare before their flight lift off. Going through the boarding procedure is usually boring but after what had happen to him, he takes comfort in its farmiliarity.

Eventually, they get on the airplane and before he could think Sungmin already exchanged seat with him so he can sit near Hyukjae. Usually when they fly Donghae and Hyukjae doesn’t sit with each other because Hyukjae likes his sleep and Donghae, well, he gets bored easily.

Hyukjae smiles as Donghae takes his seat. Donghae is too exhausted to be really bored, so he leans his head on Hyukjae’s shoulder, which was playing a game on his cell phone. He doesn’t want to sleep, because the last time he fallen asleep he woke up inhuman.

But Hyukjae is a comforting warm by his side and when he closes his eyes he thinks he could still smell the taste of summer in bloom.

“Sleep,” Hyukjae whispers into his ears. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Donghae wishes he could stay like this forever, but he is glad for this moment, glad for his friends and Hyukjae. “Thank you,” he murmurs, before his eyes flutter shuts.

 

\--- 

 

They steps off the airplane in Incheon and Donghae misses Seoul with an aching loneliness that China will never able to fill. Seoul will always be home no matter where he goes because she’s his faithful north star.

“Donghae, what are you standing there for, lets go.” Hyukjae was behind him when they got off the airplane but now he's right beside him and he grabs Donghae’s hand and tugs him forward. It makes him flush when he thinks how Hyukjae rarely show such obvious affection in public. Donghae would always be the first to approach Hyukjae with his hugs and touch, but ever since this morning Hyukjae been more forward. Donghae can’t see he doesn’t like this Hyukjae, he just hopes he won’t miss him when Donghae returns back to normal. 

They walk out into the arrival area and Hyukjae suddenly pulls to a stop. He lets go of Donghae hand and pulls out his cell to text.  “What’s the matter?” Donghae asks, looking around for the others but he can’t find them. It’s _weird_. 

“Just a wait a second.” Hyukjae shushes him and continues to text. Donghae pouts and the thought of stomping on Hyukjae’s foot might of cross his mind and he would have given into it if he didn’t spy them.

He is surprise to see Youngwoon and Yesung standing not far from them. They waves to Hyukjae and Donghae, and Donghae, without a thought, rushes toward Youngwoon and hugs him so hard.

“Hyung,” he mumbles. “I miss you guys so much.”

Yesung pats the back of his head. “We miss you too.” 

“Welcome back,” Youngwoon says, and Donghae lets their voices wash over him. More than Seoul, he misses them.

“It’s good to be back.” He smiles.

They look at each other for a moment before Youngwoon says, “We heard about what happen.” 

Donghae stiffens and is suddenly grab again in a three way embrace. “Don’t worry, it’ll be alright,” Youngwoon assures him.

“We’ll fix this,” Yesung adds in and it’s promise Donghae knows wel.

He sighs in relief. “I know you will.” 

They probably look like a bunch of weirdoes hugging in the middle of the airport, but Donghae doesn’t care and neither does his hyungs. It’s just good to be home again. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! It been so long, guys D:. Sorry, it took me forever to get this up but it's 7.8k wordcount so that should make up for it? *bricks* /o\ I'm also very sorry for this chapter :x, I'm not very confident with it to be honest. It definitely threw a curve ball at people and I'm not sure if people will like it? My original plan has always been going to this route, so I'm not sure how people will take it. I'm not a very fun writer at all ;~~;, I'm more of "everybody suffer, angst, angst" kind of writer so those readers looking for a fun crack time, I'm so sorry to disappoint you guys >___<. Anyway, I don't have anything smart to say except chapter title taken from one Jane Austen's book and, "LOOK A WILD PLOT HAS APPEAR." Also it's 4:30 AM over here and I need sleep. Z_Z stay up all night to finish this. Thank you so much for being patient with me and I hope this was worth the wait :x. ALSO SJ EPIC FRIENDSHIP, I LOVE THEM A LOT OF OKAY.

**Author's Note:**

> When will I stop writing these catboy fics... the answer is NEVER.


End file.
